Cancer is spreading - the Ministry of Health addressed Israeli women

Israel's Ministry of Health published data from the National Cancer Registry for 2023 ahead of October, Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Breast cancer remains the most common cancer among Israeli women, with 5,565 new cases detected in 2023. Of these, 4,858 (87%) were invasive cancer, and 707 patients had localized non-invasive tumors. Despite the high incidence, breast cancer mortality in Israel is among the lowest in the world, attributed to early detection and modern treatments. Since 2013, invasive cancer incidence among Jewish women has decreased by an average of 1.6% annually; among Arab women, the rate has stabilized since 2015. In the international ranking, Israel ranks 33rd in incidence among 186 countries and 125th in mortality. In 2023, 999 women died from breast cancer, about 18% of all cancer deaths among women. The five-year survival rate for diagnoses from 2012-2019 reached 92% among Jewish women and 87% among Arab women. The Ministry of Health recommends mammography every two years for average-risk women aged 50-74, and annually from age 40 for those at higher risk. Professor Lital Keinan, director of the National Center for Disease Control, noted significant progress in combating the disease.